A new vote will further increase pressure on US relations with the oil-rich kingdom, given the added controversy over the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi along with Saudi Arabia’s prolonged bloody onslaught on Yemen.

The announcement comes as the Senate has been exploring different means to punish the Saudi government in recent weeks.

On November 15, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill seeking to halt US arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

The measure came on the same day the US Treasury Department had imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudis allegedly involved in Khashoggi’s murder.

Later this week, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plan to brief the Senate on Saudi Arabia, in what may be a last attempt to defend the Trump administration’s positive relations with Riyadh in the Upper House.